Genetec centralizes security operations at Heathrow airport

En un principio se implantó Genetec Security Center para reunir todos los sistemas de seguridad IP en una plataforma unificada. Esto ha ido evolucionando y, currently, se utilizan las soluciones de este fabricante tanto para proteger como para optimizar la eficiencia operativa.

La inversión plurianual del aeropuerto de Heathrow en soluciones de Genetec le está permitiendo al proveedor de tecnología de seguridad innovar y transformar las operaciones. El esfuerzo conjunto proporciona una visión unificada de las operaciones aeroportuarias a gran escala que protege a las personas y los activos, aumenta la eficiencia y mejora la experiencia de los pasajeros, al tiempo que garantiza la privacidad de los datos y el cumplimiento de las normas de ciberseguridad.

London-Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe, with approximately 80 million passengers and 14 million tons of cargo per year. More than 76.000 employees work the 24 hours of the day to ensure the smooth operation of the airport in its 1.227 hectares, which includes maintaining passenger flow, the security of the facilities and managing more than 1.300 daily takeoffs and landings of 89 different airlines.

Heathrow initially implemented Genetec Security Center to bring together all its IP security systems on a unified platform. What started as a deployment of 2.000 cameras in 2016, has quadrupled in size, incorporating everything from video and access control to LIDAR, analysis and license plate recognition.

At the moment, Genetec's solutions are used to go far beyond security. For example, estas soluciones se utilizan para supervisar más de 150 kilómetros de cintas transportadoras de equipajes y facilitar la entrada y salida diaria de más de 150.000 vehicles.

“Básicamente, gestionamos una pequeña ciudad que se llama Heathrow”, explica Danny Long, responsable de productos TI para productos de seguridad electrónica de Heathrow. “Junto a las funciones tradicionales de seguridad aeroportuaria, somos responsables de la vigilancia de carreteras, locales comerciales, tres estaciones de tren, una terminal de autobuses, workshops, una iglesia, almacenes de combustible, una red eléctrica de alta tensión y todas las demás infraestructuras asociadas que mantienen el flujo de pasajeros.”

Genetec Security Center es utilizado por 90 grupos de interesados diferentes que trabajan en 110 salas de control distintas, all of them with different access needs and rights.

I would say that we use Genetec in a 50 % for security and in a 50 % for operational efficiency. My job consists of translating business requirements and challenges into viable solutions and Genetec provides me with valuable tools to achieve this, comments Danny Long.

Customized dashboards allow individual teams and third parties, such as the police, government agencies, airlines and retailers, to focus on their specific tasks.

For example, part of the operations staff has tools to monitor passenger flow and receives automatic notifications when waiting lines at security checks are too long. For your part, IT staff do not view the camera images. Instead, they have access to system status panels that notify them of devices that have lost connection or need software or firmware updates.

“Although our software is configured according to their requirements at the time, once on the ground, new requirements arise and we have to adjust to their reality. My job is to translate business demands into viable solutions and Genetec provides me with the tools to achieve this”, ” concludes Long.